An Ol' Broad's Ramblings
Archive for Veterans
Thank You!
Honoring Heroes
Honoring Veterans Day
The Foundry
Today, we at The Heritage Foundation are proud to honor Veterans Day by pausing to remember the men and women in uniform who serve this country. They are some of the finest this nation has to offer.
Among those who have served throughout the years, the recipients of the Medal of Honor (MOH) deserve our utmost respect and admiration. They wear this august award for those who did not come home. They never refer to themselves as “winners” but see themselves as caretakers of the Medal of Honor for all who also served in harm’s way in defense of freedom.
The Medal of Honor is the highest award given to an American military service member who has shown extreme courage and intrepidity during combat.
OWS – Useless Idiots
Low
Metal Markers Stolen From Abington Veterans’ Graves
Police are looking for some vandals who stole metal rods from a veterans’ cemetery, most likely for cash.
The thieves took at least 18 markers made of copper, bronze and brass from the graves of war heroes at Mount Vernon Cemetery.
Cemetery superintendent John Burnett said the staff that holds the marker together with the American flag is what the grave robbers are looking to fence, not the medallions that come with them.
“What they do, they leave the medallion on the ground because they can’t turn them in because scrap metal people won’t take them because it’s a veteran marker,” Burnett said.
There have always been people who aren’t worth much more than trash. Stealing from the graves of our heroes doesn’t even rank as high as trash.
MUST! READ!
A True Story; my return home from Gulf War I
By Christopher S. Watson
It was sometime in late May of 1991 and I was headed home after my first trip to the “Sand Box” as it was first coined then. The war was over and we had kicked Saddam out of Kuwait. America felt strong again after years of hanging its head low in the wake of Vietnam. Movies like Platoon, Hamburger Hill, Apocalypse Now, and The Deer Hunter had cast a terrible light on the silver screen of my early childhood. Somehow America had begun to blame the soldiers for the failures of its politicians. I knew little about the world at the time, but I did know that this was somehow wrong.
My Favorite Veteran
Honestly, I have a lot of favorite vets, many of who are fellow bloggers! But this one was my ALL time favorite. Why? Cuz he’s my dad. Gone nearly 30 years now, but he’ll always be #1 in my book. He was the first hero in my life, and remains so to this day!
Thank you, dad! And to all those who served to keep me safe….
It’s OK To LIE?
Appeals court: Stolen Valor Act unconstitutional
A three-year-old federal law that makes it a crime to falsely claim to have received a medal from the U.S. military is unconstitutional, an appeals court panel in California ruled Tuesday.
The decision involves the case of Xavier Alvarez of Pomona, Calif., a water district board member who said at a public meeting in 2007 that he was a retired Marine who received the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest military decoration.
Mr. Alvarez was indicted in 2007. He pleaded guilty on condition that he be allowed to appeal on First Amendment grounds. He was sentenced under the Stolen Valor Act to more than 400 hours of community service at a veterans hospital and fined $5,000.
A panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with him in a 2-1 decision Tuesday, agreeing that the law was a violation of his free-speech rights. The majority said there’s no evidence that such lies harm anybody, and there’s no compelling reason for the government to ban such lies.
Is common decency a ‘compelling reason’? You can’t shout FIRE in a crowded theater. It is NOT protected under the 1st Amendment, nor should a feckless weasel LYING about his military service. It dishonors all who DID receive such medals. It is a slap in the face to every honorable person in the country. But then, this IS the 9th circus, and judging by many of their decision, honor isn’t even in their vocabulary.
In my limited understanding of the 1st Amendment, the phrase “abridging the freedom of speech”, does NOT protect thieves. And that’s what this case represents….THEFT!
THOU SHALT NOT STEAL!!
Glenn Beck 07/30/10
Blithering Idiots
Scathing report: Tea partiers just like Timothy McVeigh
A new attack by the Southern Poverty Law Center charges the tea-party movement is “shot through” with radical ideas and tied with “hate groups,” “furious anti-immigrant vigilante groups” and “so-called ‘Patriot’ groups.”
The SPLC report, “Rage on the Right, The Year in Hate and Extremism,” assails Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., for “plugging” anti-government ideas and Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt for daring to promote Second Amendment gun rights.
The SPLC’s Mark Potok warns “so-called ‘Patriot’ groups – militias and other organizations that see the federal government as part of a plot to impose ‘one-world government’ on liberty-loving Americans – came roaring back after years out of the limelight.”
I gotta tell ya, THIS guy scares me a WHOLE lot more than anyone I’ve ever met at the Tea Party rallies!
I’ve checked out the SPLC more than I’d care to admit. It’s a scary site too. When you have the word LAW in your title, wouldn’t you think that someone over there would have bothered to read the basis for our laws? Just a thought. As much as I hate to do it, in the sense of fair play, this is the link for Mr Potok’s recent rant.
The SPLC said the “radical right” “caught fire last year.”
So, folks who believe that the U.S. Constitution trumps all the horse manure flowing out of D.C. are the ‘radical right’? Got it. I guess the folks who actually sat down and WROTE that document were pretty ‘radical’ too, eh?
“Smart Girl” Lisa Mei
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” ~ Thomas Jefferson
H/T to Paula, another Smart Girl Politics member. 
7 December 1941
Back when Americans stood strong against her enemies.
Unlike now, with an apologist and groveler, in the White House.
Dithering Duck
Obama Dithers. US Troops Die.
“Broken Arrow” for US Troops in Afghanistan?
by J.D. Longstreet
Just a snippet:
Looking at Afghanistan today it is fairly easy to see what is about to happen there, barring some unforeseen event. The “Vietnam Syndrome” has already set in among the troops in theatre. Look, Obama may fool some of the people, (actually he is fooling a LOT of the people) but he is NOT, I repeat, NOT fooling the Military!
“American Warriors”, know beyond any doubt, whatsoever, that when they find themselves in a tight spot — a call for reinforcements will be answered, immediately, with those reinforcements, Usually more reinforcements are sent than were requested.
The current Commander-in-Chief received a call for 40,000 troops to reinforce the brave American warriors in Afghanistan as far back as August of 2009. It is mid November. Those reinforcements have NOT BEEN SENT as of this writing! There is no excuse, none, sufficient to excuse this lack of action on the part of the Commander-in-Chief and his Administration. We are seeing frequent reports now of low moral among American troops in Afghanistan —and why not? They are being used as “cannon fodder” while the President appears to be searching for some political goal he can announce as an acceptable “Victory in Afghanistan.” My guess is – it will have nothing to do with actually defeating the Taliban.
In other words, dear reader, Obama is playing politics with the lives of our military men and women in Afghanistan. I know of no other way to state the obvious.
Read the whole post here.
I have never, and will never, understand the mindset of the libtard. Since the foundations of this country, it has been the U.S. military that has kept us free, yet all the lefty socialists want to do is destroy them. The sacrifices of the families, the lives of the men and women who serve, mean nothing to them. I, for one, do not believe they deserve the freedoms afforded us by the blood of our heroes.
Putting The U.S. In A Dangerous Place
Keeping Up Our End of the Bargain With Those Who Serve
The Foundry
Today, we at The Heritage Foundation will honor Veterans Day by pausing to remember those who sacrifice in defense of freedom for our country. Heritage honors all who serve past and present in the United States Armed Forces, their families, and all military retirees and veterans. We solemnly remember those fallen men and women who gave the last full measure of devotion and will also not forget those who have yet to come home and remain missing in action.
This national holiday warrants a diversion from discussing domestic priorities to take a closer look at what Congress and the White House are doing about many pressing defense issues.
Some policymakers seem want to keep defense and military issues out of the headlines, choosing instead to continue cutting the defense budget to fund domestic programs. This observation is based on actual outcomes from this year’s defense budget debate.
11/11/2009
Proud To Be An Oath Keeper
READY TO REVOLT: Oath Keepers pledges to prevent dictatorship in United States
Group asks police and military to lay down arms in response to orders deemed unlawful
“The whole point of Oath Keepers is to stop a dictatorship from ever happening here,” Rhodes, a former Army paratrooper and Yale-trained lawyer, said in an interview with the Review-Journal. “My focus is on the guys with the guns, because they can’t do it without them.
“We say if the American people decide it’s time for a revolution, we’ll fight with you.”
That type of rhetoric has caught the attention of groups that track extremist activity in the United States.
I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that people who want to preserve the U.S. Constitution would be called ‘extremist’. It’s a sad commentary on today’s society.
In a July report titled “Return of the Militias,” the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center singled out Oath Keepers as “a particularly worrisome example of the Patriot revival.”
Loving your country is a bad thing? I guess so, since there are so many out to destroy her.
The Patriot movement, so named because its adherents believe the federal government has stepped on the constitutional ideals of the American Revolution, gained traction in the 1990s and has been closely linked to anti-government militia and white supremacist movements.
Of all the people I’ve met through the Tea Parties, and Oath Keepers, not one single person has expressed ANY ‘white supremacist’ sentiments. NOT ONE! When it comes to racism, I doubt anyone could top SPLC!
Oath Keepers got some unwanted attention in April when an Oklahoma man loosely connected to the group was arrested for threatening violence at an anti-tax protest in Oklahoma City. Rhodes called the man “a nut” who had no real affiliation with his group.
My cats could say they were associated with Oath Keepers, that doesn’t make it so. REAL OK’s are not promoting any violence.
According to the law center, militia groups are re-emerging in this country partly as a result of racial animosity toward Obama.
Two words: BULL and SHIT! For one thing, the OK is NOT a “militia group”. Second, no one gives a flying flip what color Obama is on the outside. It’s the color of his insides that has people worried. That color would be RED, as in Marxism!
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security reached a similar conclusion in a report earlier this year about the rise of right-wing extremism. The report said the nation’s economic downturn and Obama’s race are “unique drivers for right-wing radicalization and recruitment.”
I repeat, and will continue repeating: External color is NOT an issue. The economic downturn is being increased continuously by policies. Perhaps these people should look into the types who carry around signs promoting the murder of American soldiers, or destroying vehicles, or destroying businesses.
The homeland security report added that “disgruntled military veterans” might be vulnerable to recruitment by right-wing extremist groups.
That warning was enough to make Rhodes feel paranoid.
It should makes us ALL feel paranoid!
“They’re accusing anybody who opposes Obama of being a racist or a potential terrorist,” he said. “What they’re saying is, ‘We’re coming after you.’”
The motto of Oath Keepers: “Not on our watch!”
More people should have the same motto! We should have never gotten to this point in our nation, but now that we are here, I will stand with my fellow freedom loving Americans! On 9/12, I stood with many from around Tennessee and took the same oath the military takes, “…that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…“!
Two things have happened since the Homeland Security Department and Southern Poverty Law Center released their reports on extremism: Membership of Oath Keepers has spiked dramatically. And Rhodes has had to do a lot of explaining.
Only liberal racists (redundant?) would need to have common sense explained to them.
Another prominent Oath Keeper is former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack, who has long been an outspoken government critic.
The Southern Poverty Law Center calls Mack a “longtime militia hero” who helped weaken gun control laws.
Bless his heart! I wish I could have gone to hear Sheriff Mack speak when he was in East Tennessee recently. It’s not guns that need to be controlled. It’s the government, which is totally OUT of control. Of course criminals shouldn’t have guns. DUH! But criminals don’t care about gun laws, so what difference does it make?
Well, you get the idea. It’s a rather lengthy article, but if you want to, go read the whole piece. And while you’re at it, read some of the comments. Honestly, there is really no hope for some people. Clueless is an understatement. The majority of the comments I read were positive, but there are always moonbats in the bunch.
Perhaps this person should have titled his piece “Americans Already Revolted by Revolting Gov’t Policies“.
OATH KEEPERS: ORDERS WE WILL NOT OBEY
1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.
